Health Care

March, 2016

There is good news today for pregnant women in Tennessee. These are words I have never written before. The controversial “fetal assault” law passed in 2014 will expire this summer despite efforts by lawmakers to renew it. The law made Tennessee the first state in the nation to criminalize the …

Controversial House Bill 1337 has advanced to Governor Mike Pence’s desk after a 60-40 vote in the Indiana House passed it on Wednesday. The bill is a comprehensive attack on abortion that many, even some staunch anti-abortion Republicans could not vote for because it goes too far. Others object to …

The Missouri House approved a measure Wednesday with enough approval to override a gubernatorial veto. The bill HB 1370 would require two parent notification before a minor can have a legal abortion. Currently minors seeking abortion in Missouri must have written consent from one parent, but were this bill to pass, …

On Wednesday there was only one issue before the Supreme Court–Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, the first major case on abortion to reach the highest court in nearly a decade. As most everyone predicted, the court appeared evenly divided with Justice Anthony M. Kennedy asking difficult questions to both sides. Law …

February, 2016

In a horrifying report titled “Fatal Neglect: How ICE Ignores Death In Detention” released Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union, Detention Watch Network, and National Immigrant Justice Center, facts seem to show that the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency does not meet basic standards to sustain human life at their detainment …

An appeals court in New Orleans ruled on Wednesday that a 2014 anti-abortion law will be upheld in the state of Louisiana. According to abortion rights groups, this order will lead to the closure of three out of four of Louisiana’s remaining abortion clinics. HB 388 was signed into law by …

Ohio Governor John Kasich signed House Bill 294 on Sunday, an anti-abortion measure designed to blocked Planned Parenthood from receiving funding. While the bill has very little direct impact on abortion services, it does block state grants and some federal funds that were intended for women and children’ health care …

In a report published today by Time magazine, Matt Sandy reported on the plans of Brazilian lawmakers to increase the penalties for abortion, despite the pleas of international bodies such as the UN to legalize abortion during the Zika epidemic. Brazil, like many Latin American nations affected by Zika, does …

At a congressional hearing about the Zika virus and its spread from the developing world, House GOP members spoke out against efforts to provide contraception and abortion access to women who have become infected by the viral strain known to cause severe birth defects. The $1.8 billion in emergency aid requested by …

On Monday a fifteen-year-old girl reported being raped by a hospital security guard while she was in the hospital recovering from another rape by another teenager in Jamshedpur, India. The second rape occurred only five days after the first. While the victim’s mother was out, the security guard escorted the victim to the …

January, 2016

A new report has surfaced showing that aides to Governor Snyder were aware of Flint River’s toxicity as early as December 2012. Via US Uncut: Ed Kurtz, Gov. Snyder’s first appointed emergency manager (EM), was given authority to make all financial decisions on behalf of Flint’s elected officials (as part …

Two anti-abortion activists for the group Center for Medical Progress were indicted by a grand jury in Harris County, Texas for their activities in secretly recording a video which purported to show Planned Parenthood employees illegally selling fetal tissue for profit. The same grand jury has stated that it has found no …

Florida Rep. Charles Van Zant, R-Keystone Heights has been trying every year since 2010 to introduce anti-abortion legislation; however, his proposals have never advanced to consideration by a committee. Monday Rep. Carlos Trujillo, R-Miami, the chairman of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee has agreed to consider the bill. By an 8-3 vote Monday afternoon, a …

An investigation by ProPublica and NPR claims that the federal Office for Civil Rights within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, tasked with enforcing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act has accumulated data on the companies who have violated patient privacy law but failed to take any punitive action against them. …

Via Huffington Post: “Planned Parenthood filed a federal lawsuit in San Francisco on Thursday against the anti-abortion activists that produced a series of heavily edited, secretly recorded videos of the family planning provider’s staffers talking about fetal tissue donations. The civil suit accuses the defendants — the anti-abortion group Center for Medical …